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CapitalPress.com
Friday, December 27, 2019
Farmer looks to cash in on carbon storage Federal judge halts Iowa’s
By DENNIS PILLION
Associated Press
ALICEVILLE, Ala. —
Deep in west Alabama, in a
part of the state where most
economic activity grows
up from the ground, one
woman is hoping to get paid
for what she’s putting back
into the soil.
Aliceville farmer Annie
Dee, who runs the Dee River
Ranch in Pickens County, is
one of a growing number of
farmers who are signed up
to get paid to sequester car-
bon in the soil using what
are being called regenerative
farm techniques.
Dee uses a mixture of
plants such as radishes, tur-
nips, clover, winter peas and
oats as cover crops for her
4,000 acres of row crops.
She tinkers with the mixture
based on seed prices.
Dee is one of the early
participants in an incen-
tive program run by startup
Indigo Agriculture called the
Terraton Initiative, which
will pay farmers like her $15
per ton of carbon seques-
tered in the soil where she
grows crops like corn, soy-
beans and timber and grazes
cattle.
Dee isn’t a climate change
activist, but she has been an
advocate of no-till farming,
using cover crops and crop
rotations for decades. Now
she’s making a little extra
bank for the added benefits
of keeping carbon out of the
atmosphere.
“What I hope is to get paid
for things that I’m already
doing,” Dee said.
Carbon dioxide levels in
the atmosphere are higher
now than at any point in at
least the past 800,000 years,
according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Agriculture
is estimated to be responsi-
File photo/TownNews.com Content Exchange
A growing number of farmers are signed up to get paid
to sequester carbon in the soil. Practices include using
cover crops, no-till, reducing fertilizer and chemical in-
puts, crop rotation and integrating livestock and crop
areas.
ble for 20 to 25% of global
carbon emissions, but some
believe it may also be the
easiest and cheapest way
to put carbon back in the
ground.
Plants naturally absorb
carbon dioxide from the air,
and using cover crops in
between growing seasons
can keep soil healthy, richer
and full of carbon. The plants
also break up tough soil with
their roots, adding nutrients
back to the soil as they break
down.
Indigo Ag believes farm-
ers like Dee can sequester
enough carbon in their soil
to make a real impact in the
battle to limit the impacts of
climate change. The project
name Terraton is a play on
words from “terra,” meaning
earth, and “tera,” meaning
one trillion, as the stated goal
of the project is to keep one
trillion tons of carbon in the
soil and not the atmosphere.
The company says it
expects farmers who use
“the full suite of regener-
ative growing practices”
could capture 2 to 3 tons of
carbon per acre per year.
Those practices include
using cover crops, no-till,
reducing fertilizer and
chemical inputs, crop rota-
tion and integrating live-
stock and crop areas to allow
“carefully managed graz-
ing” for the animals and pro-
vide a bit of free fertilizer for
the plants.
Indigo gets its funds from
large companies, individu-
als and governments look-
ing to purchase carbon off-
sets. Indigo will earn its
profits by charging for the
measurement, monitoring
and verification of carbon
sequestration.
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HARVESTING
At $15 per ton, reaching
its one trillion ton goal will
be very expensive, but the
company says that figure
is actually cheaper than the
other methods being tested
to remove excess CO2 from
the air.
So far, Indigo says farm-
ers have committed more
than 12 million acres to the
program, including 77,000
acres in Alabama. The com-
pany is still recruiting partic-
ipants through its website.
Dee is among the larg-
est participants in Alabama
at roughly 10,000 acres, and
she’s also in the minority
because she is already using
many of the recommended
techniques.
Indigo cites an analysis
from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture that estimates
only one in five farmers use
any of those techniques con-
sistently, and less than 1%
use all five. The company
hopes this financial incen-
tive will kick-start the more
widespread adoption of
more sustainable farming.
“With a financial incen-
tive — $15 per ton of carbon
dioxide — growers are able
to reduce the risk associated
with transitioning to regen-
erative growing practices,”
the company said in a state-
ment. “This new revenue
stream is critical as grow-
ers are faced by an increas-
ing number of challenges,
including extreme weather
events, low commodity
prices, and high input costs,
that make it difficult to
remain profitable each year.”
Dee said she is still send-
ing the company soil infor-
mation to determine how
much carbon she is keeping
in the dirt.
“I think they’re still in
the figuring it out stage,” she
said.
Dee said the benefits of
some of these techniques
can be measured in labora-
tory testing that many farm-
ers perform now to get an
idea of their soil health. Dee
said that when she began
farming row crops in Pick-
ens County some 30 years
ago, her soil had very low
organic matter. Now, it’s a
different story.
“The organic matter,
when we got here, some
of our fields were less than
2%, maybe 1.5%,” Dee said.
“Now some of them are as
high as 7%.”
Dee says the difference
is visible to the eye as well
as instruments. The soil is
darker, richer and more fer-
tile. It very rarely cracks
during drought, and ero-
sion is less of a problem.
That leads to larger yields
at harvest time of corn or
soybeans.
“(The soil) holds more
water, it’ll hold more nutri-
ents, and it’ll be a health-
ier soil,” Dee said. “That’s
a huge thing to build the
organic matter.”
‘ag gag’ law enforcement
By ROD BOSHART
Journal Des Moines Bureau
For the second time in
less than a year, a federal
court has halted enforce-
ment of an Iowa law that
backers say is needed to pro-
tect farms from deceptive
trespassers but critics say
stifles animal-welfare advo-
cates from exposing abuses.
U.S. District Judge James
Gritzner issued a prelimi-
nary injunction last week to
allow animal-rights activ-
ists, public-interest groups
and civil libertarians to pro-
ceed with a lawsuit chal-
lenging the constitutionality
of Senate File 519 — more
commonly known as Iowa’s
ag-gag rule.
In January, a federal
judge struck down as uncon-
stitutional Iowa’s origi-
nal ag-gag law, which was
passed in 2012 with biparti-
san support.
Responding quickly, the
Legislature approved and
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed
the revised SF 519 measure
last March.
But the revision, too,
quickly brought a challenge
in federal court.
“It’s a sad day for Amer-
ica,” state Sen. Annette
Sweeney, R-Alden, vice
chair of the Senate Agricul-
ture Committee, said Mon-
day after the injunction was
issued.
One of the backers of the
revised law, she had argued
the statute was needed
partly as a defense against
the potential spread of a
new African swine fever
that could have had cata-
strophic effects on animal
agriculture, the U.S. food
supply and Iowa’s econ-
omy if it were introduced
at a livestock operation
here.
Animal welfare groups
and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Iowa
cheered Monday’s devel-
opment as a victory in their
effort to strike down a stat-
ute they say is designed to
silence whistleblowers and
undercover activists by
punishing them for record-
ing or taking photos inside
factory farms, slaughter-
houses and puppy mills.
“We warned Iowa leg-
islators that Iowa’s Ag
Gag law would trample
on free speech in our state,
and violate the Constitu-
tion,” said Rita Bettis Aus-
ten, legal director for the
ACLU of Iowa. “The First
Amendment rights of jour-
nalists, investigators and
advocates that are at stake
in this case are vital to our
democracy.”
The 42-page ruling in
the U.S. Southern District
of Iowa granted a prelim-
inary injunction, prevent-
ing the state from enforcing
SF 519 while the lawsuit
POLISHING
DRYING
to permanently block it
proceeds.
The court also denied
the state’s motion to dis-
miss the lawsuit.
SF 519 created a new
crime — “agricultural pro-
duction facility trespass”
— and made it illegal for
a person to gain access to
an agricultural production
facility through deception if
the person intends to cause
“economic harm or other
injury” to the “business
interest” of the facility.
Since someone who
finds and makes public any
violations of food safety
protocols, environmental
protections, workers’ rights
or animal welfare laws can
damage a business’ repu-
tation, opponents say the
law unconstitutionally sti-
fles free speech by violat-
ing provisions of the First
Amendment designed to
protect exposés, boycotts
and protests of agricultural
facilities.
State Sen. Ken Rozen-
boom, R-Oskaloosa, said
drafters were “very careful”
to model the revised Iowa
law after others that have
withstood court scrutiny.
Rozenboom said he
was “extremely disap-
pointed” with Monday’s
development.
“I think that we in the
Legislature are the ones that
make the laws. I don’t think
judges do that, so I’m disap-
pointed,” said Rozenboom,
who noted he and several
relatives were victims of
an attempt by activists last
May who “came to me lying
through their teeth, trying to
get access to my building”
when he raises hogs.
“I’m not ready to make
any projections of what I’ll
do if the courts would rule
this unconstitutional,” he
said, “but I’m personally
very disgusted that we can’t
protect honest, hard-work-
ing Iowans but we’ll protect
criminals and people that lie
for a living.”
In granting the prelim-
inary injunction, the court
examined several prongs of
a test to see if one were war-
ranted. One of those tests —
the public interest — is key
to the plaintiffs’ argument.
“Although this court seri-
ously considers the pub-
lic’s interest in seeing the
enforcement of criminal
laws, defendants have done
little to show that (SF 519)
responds to ongoing issues
of public concern unrelated
to the suppression of free
speech.” Gritzner wrote.
“By contrast, the public ben-
efits from people and orga-
nizations exercising First
Amendment rights and
educating the public about
important issues relating
to animal abuse and safety
at agricultural production
facilities.”
503-932-0766
S161761-1
Klopfenstein
Ag Service
Paid Advertisement
A Pathway for the Next Gen: Leasing and Mentorship
at Long Hearing Farm - A Changing Hands Story
By Ashley Rood,
Rogue Farm Corps
“I’ve had the opportunity to
farm beautiful land for my
whole career,” says Anne
Schwartz. “It is a joy to
get younger people on the
land.” After over forty years,
Anne and the farm’s owner,
Lois Canright, are making
way for the next generation
farmer for six years! I also
wanted to be respectful of
the others who had worked
for Anne. After lots of long
conversations, I said, we’ll
take over the CSA.” And
Long Hearing Farm, named
after Elizabeth’s grandma’s
grandma, came to fruition—
a rural serving community
supported agriculture project
and an indigenous growing
project.
Both Anne and Lois see the
value of giving Elizabeth a
reasonable lease rate along
with space. Anne says,
“When I gave Elizabeth
space, she didn’t have to take
over the whole farm lease,
she could take over just a
corner.” Elizabeth’s advice to
beginning farmers is to work
on farms, “be in community
with other farmers. If you
feel capable–say I’m ready, I
want to farm.”
Today’s new farmers need
support. Lois says, “Those of
us that own farmland at this
point are the lucky ones. We
have a responsibility to try
hard to find creative ways to
help the next generation of
farmers get on the land.”
More of this story online.
S159270-1
Today, hundreds of acres
surrounding her farm are
protected habitat so Lois’s
highest priority is keeping
this land in agriculture. She
says, “I’m really happy that
Elizabeth came along. I’ve
“I feel protective of this soil,” been pushing Anne to retire
says Lois. “It is premium,
before things fall apart.” This
and they aren’t making more year, when Anne invited her
of it.” When Lois bought
in the Skagit River Valley.
five employees to take on
the farm 15 years ago, she
The success of this farm
parts of the business, she
transfer stems from a shared purchased it in part because
said: “Bring me your project
vision of keeping the land in Anne was already caring for ideas and we can make it
agriculture, a long-term lease, the soil. Lois was looking
happen.”
community, and mentorship. to invest in continuing her
“I intended to start my own
family farming tradition;
“Having the gift of this land
food growing project, but
she and her brother had just
is huge,” says Elizabeth
I had not expected it to be
sold their family’s farm in
Bragg, the next generation
New Jersey—the state’s first so soon,” Elizabeth says.
farmer. She says, “Beyond
“I hadn’t saved money—I
organic vegetable farm.
having Anne as a mentor, it’s
was being paid to be a
also not having to pay for a
cooler, or build a pack shed.
There’s the soil, certified
organic—Anne’s been loving
that soil for over 40 years.
It’s just amazing.”